AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Good lord, she hadn’t even realized she was. It was all too much. The dwindling countdown in her head was like the constanttick-tock, tick-tockof a timer on a bomb, making it impossible to forget the end was coming. How could she lose herself in this sweet, agonizing fuck—possibly the last they ever shared—when her whole world was about to implode?
Clutching him as tightly as she could, Olivia buried her face in his neck and tried to focus on the pain and pleasure coursing through her body. If she never felt like this again for the rest of her life, at least she’d be able to lose herself in the memory.
Though if she truly never felt like this again, it might be easier to forget.
* * *
Hours later, they lay in bed together, Olivia’s head on his shoulder, her whole body tucked up against his side. He’d been lazily running his fingertips up and down her arm for at least twenty minutes, neither of them saying a word.
Part of her was afraid to break the silence. It was so perfect and peaceful. But there was something she needed to say, and she’d never have the nerve to get it out in the light of day.
“Thank you.”
His hand stilled. “For what?”
“For understanding me. For fixing me.”
Aiden gave her arm a gentle squeeze. “You didn’t need to be fixed, Liv.”
“My life was empty before. All I did was work and dream about stuff I was too afraid to do.” She took a deep breath and forced herself to continue. “I’m thirty-three years old, and don’t think I’ve ever really been happy before I came here. That sounds pretty damn broken to me.”
He held her closer, not saying a word.
“But now...maybe I don’t have to be alone. Maybe everything will be different, all because of you.”
“You’re the one who filled out the application,” Aiden said, his voice soft as a caress. “Without that, I never would’ve known you exist. So it seems to me everything will be different now because ofyou—because you took control of your own life and made it happen. And I’m so fucking proud of you for finding the strength to do that.”
Could that really be true? Had she made this happen herself?
I love you. I love you. Just say the words: I. Love. You.
But she couldn’t do it. How fucking unhinged would he think she was for declaring her love when they’d only known each other for six days? And how pathetic did it make her that she’d paid someone to dominate her (no matter what Aiden said aboutconsenting adults), and then fell for him—as if their entire “relationship” wasn’t one big transaction?
His rejection now, in the middle of the night and an hour away from her car, would be the most unbearably painful and mortifying moment of her life.
Letting him go without even trying, though...that was even worse.
Screwing her eyes up tight, she forced out, “I know I got myself banned from the Manor. But is this really it? I drive away tomorrow, and we never see each other again?”
“Do you want to see me again?” The words were almost robotic.
Christ almighty, she was exactly like Stacey. Imagining a connection that wasn’t really there. Doing her best to sound flirty instead of heartbroken, she said, “Well, you have to admit, it’s like fireworks on the Fourth of July when we fuck.”
He chuckled, sliding a hand along her cheekbone and up into her hair. “Ain’t that a fucking fact.”
“Is it like that with most of your other subs?” What a pitiful thing to ask—like she was a mangy dog, begging for scraps of affection instead of food. But she couldn’t stop herself. “Because it’s never been remotely like this for me.”
Aiden drew in a sharp breath, and goddamnit, she wished she had the guts to look at his face. What did the sound signify?
Shock? Delight?
Disgust?
At last, he leaned over, brushing his lips against her temple. “It’s never been like this for me, either. I told you I was done for the second I saw you, and I meant it, Liv. I’ve never meant anything more in my life.”
Grinning like a fool, Olivia rolled on top of him, landing kisses all over his lips, his face, his neck, his chest—any bit of skin she could reach. Aiden squirmed beneath her, laughing as her featherlight kisses tickled his skin, which only spurred her to move faster, to aim for more sensitive spots.
“All right, little minx,” Aiden said, flipping her over onto her back, pinning her to the bed with his body. He forced her hands up above her head, his fingers pressing her wrists into the mattress. “I think that’s quite enough, thank you.”
